Vertical filing cabinet



D. E. HUNTER 1,734,168

VERTICAL FILING CABINET Filed Aug. 13'. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l :zkw' .wm,,-.' 'wzay ijyff ggd Nov. 5, 1929. D: E. HUNTER VERTICAL FILING CABINET Filed Aug. 13, 1927 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 5, 1929 UNITED STATE ENT QFIQE DAVID E. HUNTER, OF MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO SHAW-WALKER COMPANY, OF MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN VERTICAL FILING CABINET Application filed August 13, 1927. Serial No. 212,785.

This invention relates to improvements in vertical filing cabinets and consists of the matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention has to do more especially with receptacles or drawers of cabinets or cabinet units used in what is commonly known as the vertical system of filing. In such system the papers or records are filed on edge in the receptacle or drawer in their,

proper positions determined by suitable guide or index cards and are intended to be retained in vertical position, whence the name. It has been found, however, that in the opera tion of such systems with the receptacles or drawers as heretofore constructed, the papers or records generally stand in anything but a vertical position.

Heretofore file receptacles of the kind have consisted of a box-like container, drawer or tray having a follower plate mountedto slide lengthwise of the filing space and adapted to be clamped in any desired position therein to accommodate variable quantities of file contents. In some cases the drawer is provided with a guide rod extending lengthwise of the filing space and set into.

a groove in its bottom wall and the guide or index cards are anchored to the rod by perforated ears engaged thereon.

Such receptacles are subject to several objections: (1) The adjustment mechanism for the follower plate is apt to get out of order and fail to catch and hold in the adjusted position with the result that valuable time is often lost in manipulating said followers. (2) When a receptacle containing a normal volume of records or cards is pushed with normal force into the cabinet or case, the sudden stop of the receptacle causes the records or cards to slide rear wardly against the follower plate due to the momentum of said records or cards. This produces (a) uneven pressure conditions in the file; (b) uneven spacing of the file and contents; and (a) a crowding action which tends to raise the contents from the normal seat on the bottom of the receptacle with the resultant loss of time for readjusting the considerable loss of filing space on account of the space required for the follower plate mechanism. (4;) In cases where the guide rods areused which tend to prevent the mass raising above referred to, there is the still greater loss of space required for the guide rod mechanism.

The object of my invention is to produce a receptacle or drawer adapted for a vertical compared to that involved in the use of former receptacles for the purpose.

Another object of my invention is'to produce a filing receptacle of the kind in which the space heretofore required for the fol lower plate mechanism and the guide rod is eliminated, thereby saving vertical space which in the aggregate of a number of filing units placed one upon the other, will amount to enough to substantially increase the number of filing units that may be placed in the limited vertical space generally permissible for cabinets of the kind. With floor space rapidly increasing in cost, this is a material advantage of the invention.

These and other advantages of the invention will appear more fully as I proceed with my specification.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet containing five of my improved drawers, one of the drawers being shown withdrawn partly from the stack.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through one of the drawers.

Figure 3 is a transverse section through one of the drawers.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the same.

Figures 5. 6 and 7 are detailed views to be described more particularly later in the specification.

50 contents to their normal position. A In illustrating and describing my invention I have shown it as applied to a cabinet made up of a plurality of vertically stacked units, each consisting of a housing or body and of the novel drawer or receptacle itself.

Referring now to that embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings :10 indicates the @cabinet,incli1cling, as shown, five cabinet units each including a drawer 11. The units including the housing or body 10 andithedrawers with -tiheir guide rai'lsand the like for slideably supporting them within their housings, are and may be of any familiar sheetmetal construction,-the details "in this respect having no part in the invention. 12 indicates the bottom wall of the drawer; 13, 13 itsside walls; 14 indicates the .rear .end wall of the drawer, and 15 indicates the upright front wall of the drawer which closes the opening -into the body or .'housing ,lO in the usual manner. The side walls of the drawerhave rails .16 by means of which they are supported on co-related rails ;(..not shown) within .thehousingorhod .10...

The bottom wall .12 o .the drawer 'is flat and the usual follower- ;plate is omitted.

the drawer there are provided a plurallty of transverse division members or buttress plates which are located .at horizontally S .aced, preferably equal intervals between 1e front wall :1'5andthe rear wall 14 of .the drawer. Said division members or buttress plates are so mounted and anchored within Lthednaweras toh capahleofoilhnited swingmovement to either side of a transverse vertical plane, but are anchored against vertical. withdrawal from the drawer. The buttress plates are of substantially the same depth as the side walls 13 oft'herlrawer and are mounted withfiheir bottomed .es in such close proximity .to .the bottom wa 12 .of the drawer that the cards, record sheets .or other filing contents of the drawer may not slide through the space between said ottom edge and the bottom wall of the drawer.

Any suitable means may he adopted for mounting the divisionmembers or buttress plates 17 within the drawer inthe manner described. As shown herein and preferably,

each plate is provided at or near its bottom edge with laterally extending flat lugs 18, 18 which are engaged loosely in vertical slots formed in longitudinally extending strips 20 attached to the .side walls of the drawer at the bottom and rumiing lengthwise of said walls. Said lugs may be formed in any one of a number of ways but where the plates 17 are made of light sheet metal ,as shown in :the drawings, they are preferably stamped and formed from separate plates of sheet-metal. As illustrated said plates comprise leaf sections 21, 21 with .a connecting strip 22 of such form that when the platens a whole is bent upon itself, the connecting strip forms a flat lug 18 of double thickness and the leaf sections 21 form attaching members between side flanges and with offsetfianges 24 at their endsby meansiof which they mznylbe attached to the side walls 13 of the drawer in such offset relation from the plane of said side wall as to give room for the en'ds'o f the lugs 18-wlric'h extend through the slots '19.

The method of assembly of the buttress plates'or' division members in the drawer will manifestly depend upon the rigidity and thickness of the metal used. .In case of the lightsheet-metal plates/described, the strips 20 may be attached in place 1 and the lugs thereafter may be sprung into position through their-respective slots l9fb yvfiexing the plates as illustrated at 1.7 in1Figure 4;. In case of more rigid plates, rather obvious methods of assembly would be used. lnrarny .case .the construction must be .such that the plates, as :hereinbefore'pointed out are an chored :in the drawer .and are nonremouahle.

lVhere the lugs 18 are provided by separate strips, as shown herein, .the buttress plates are preferably bumped :or otherwise deformed .to present rounded projections 25 on opposite sidesiof the .plate above the shou lders 26 formed the upper edges of the attaching members .21. These roundedprojections prevent the bottom .ed'geso-fthe file contents, folders, cards, sheets or the like, from engagement with .and arrest said shoulders 26.. r

The buttress plates 17 divide thedrawer longitudinally into :a plurality ,of filing sections each more or less independent of all the other filing sections. In these comparatively small filing sections there is no danger of an occurrence of uneven pressure conditions :or uneven spacing or of a crowding action tending to raise the file contents from their normal seaton the bottomofthe drawer. The file contents between each pair of buttress plates are never crowded and by ;shift ing the contents of a division forward'of the particular fillewvhich is'to' be examined or removed, this being made possible by the swinging feature of the buttress plates, ready access to the panticiular file'sto be. examined or the like maybe had in the comparatively small space between the buttress members. There is no possibility for any sliding or slipping actionof the files tending to throw them into a nonvertical position. As there no abutment plate to adjust or to manipulate in order to loosen the pressure on the files, there is a great saving of time when which are forward of the particular file to be examined, back out of the way.

It is thought that the operation and advantages of the invention will be fully apparent to those familiar with the art from the foregoing description.

l/Vhile in illustrating and describing the invention I have referred to many specific details of mechanical construction and arrangement of parts, it is to be understood that the invention is in no way limited thereto except as may be pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A receptacle for vertical filing, comprising a drawer having a bottom and side walls, a plurality of buttress plates extending transversely of said drawer, said buttress plates dividing said drawer into a plurality of com partments, each plate being provided with laterally extending flat lugs near its bottom edge, and means providing narrow, vertical slots at the sides of the drawer near the bottom, in which slots said lugs are engaged and have limited movement.

2. A drawer for vertically filing, having a bottom and side walls, a plurality of buttress plates extending transversely of said drawer f and spaced longitudinally thereof, each plate being provided with laterally extending fiat lugs near its bottom edge, and longitudinal strips fixed to the sides of the drawer at the bottom and containing fiat narrow slots in which said lugs are engaged.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I aflix my signature this 10th day of August, A. D. 1927.

DAVID E. HUNTER. 

